Refund on provisional assessment and statutory interest under Section 11BB run from refund application receipt, not later verification.

Refund arising from finalisation of provisional assessment, where duty was paid under protest, is not barred by limitation in the ordinary manner under Section 11B of the Central Excise Act, 1944. The claim is treated as consequential to the final determination of the assessment dispute, and prior departmental examination of the admissible amount supports refund entitlement. Interest on delayed refund under Section 11BB becomes payable after three months from receipt of the refund application, not from later dates tied to document submission or departmental verification.

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Issues: (i) Whether the refund claim arising from finalisation of provisional assessment and duty paid under protest was barred by limitation under Section 11B of the Central Excise Act, 1944. (ii) Whether interest on delayed refund under Section 11BB of the Central Excise Act, 1944 was payable from the date of acknowledgment of the refund application or from a later date linked to submission of documents or departmental verification.

Issue (i): Whether the refund claim arising from finalisation of provisional assessment and duty paid under protest was barred by limitation under Section 11B of the Central Excise Act, 1944.

Analysis: The refund was connected with finalisation of provisional assessment and the duty had been paid under protest. In such a situation, the limitation rule under Section 11B does not operate in the same manner as an ordinary refund claim. The claim was also consequential to the final legal determination of the assessment dispute, and the record showed that the department had already examined the admissible refund amount. The bar of limitation therefore could not defeat the refund claim.

Conclusion: The refund claim was not barred by limitation and the finding in favour of refund was upheld.

Issue (ii): Whether interest on delayed refund under Section 11BB of the Central Excise Act, 1944 was payable from the date of acknowledgment of the refund application or from a later date linked to submission of documents or departmental verification.

Analysis: Section 11BB makes interest payable after expiry of three months from the date of receipt of the refund application under Section 11B(1). The statutory trigger is the receipt of the application, not the later completion of document verification or the date on which the department finalises quantification. Once the application was received, delay beyond the statutory period attracted interest.

Conclusion: Interest was payable from three months after receipt of the refund application, and not from the later dates adopted by the lower authority.

Final Conclusion: The refund ruling was sustained, and the assessee succeeded on the interest issue by securing an earlier commencement date for computation of statutory interest, while the revenue challenge to limitation failed.

Ratio Decidendi: Refund consequent upon finalisation of provisional assessment, where duty has been paid under protest, is governed by the statutory scheme so that limitation cannot be used to defeat the claim in the ordinary manner, and interest under Section 11BB runs from three months after receipt of the refund application, irrespective of later departmental processing.

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